Houston Astros Star Pitcher Will Undergo Tommy John Surgery on Thursday

Another tough injury blow has been dealt to the Houston Astros as one of their star pitchers will miss the remainder of the year because of upcoming Tommy John surgery.

May 16, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier (53) walks in the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

It's been a tough year for the Houston Astros.

Not only have they been one of, if not the most, disappointing teams during the early portion of the season, they are now going to be battling injury problems for the remainder of this campaign.

Pitching issues have been the main topic of conversation surrounding the Astros this year as Justin Verlander and Jose Urquirdy were placed on the injured list during Spring Training. Framber Valdez and Crisitan Javier soon followed them with their own stints on the IL.

However, once Verlander and Valdez returned to their rotation, the hope was they would be able to put these injury issues behind them and not have to rely on some of their younger arms who struggled to start 2024.

Urquidy looked close to returning, having gone through three rehab starts in the minors before getting pulled from his fourth expected outing to travel and get a second opinion on the injury that's kept him sidelined for this entire year.

It's now expected he will eventually undergo Tommy John surgery at some point, ending his 2024 season.

That certainly is a blow to Houston as that takes one of their expected rotation arms out of the mix, but they received some even worse news on Tuesday.

According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, sources are telling him that Cristian Javier is going to get Tommy John surgery on Thursday.

He had hit the IL for the second time on May 27 with discomfort in his right forearm. After getting an opinion from surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, it was recommended that he undergo the reconstructive surgery.

Javier is now expected to be sidelined for 12-14 months.